Comet lander checks in with earth? & A close call logging!

I'm not sure what to make of this one Comet lander checks in with earth

This "small probe" launched 10 years ago and it has been "asleep" for the last 3 but has just been woken up.
The whole idea is to land it on a comet named 67P although I presume the cost of this venture is a little more than 67p?
Why its actually doing all this is not revealed in the article although mention of it reaching and orbiting the comet in the first week in August is - - - - quick note added to diary for that week! - - -

Pavement parking 

I saw an example like the pic at left only the other day.  A bloke had to push a buggy with child into the road to get past a van parked on a narrow pavement.
When you read the article it all makes sense - - - but why is it "banned in most London streets" and not the rest of the country?? - - -


Mosquitoes -

The story along with this pic of a "mossy" lists 5 of the lesser known  "horrible" diseases the insects can inflict on man.
The short list of "Mosquitoe Facts" has a few gems non more so than there are an estimated 207 million cases of Malaria each year of resulting in 627,000 deaths!   - - -


Closer to home
We attended the Car boot as blogged yesterday

It a huge affair on top of a flat hill and armed with our list of 4 items we trudged around the lines of tables and displays of all manner of junk and gems!
Once again after about 15 minutes we had had enough but continued our search.  I managed to find a length of plastic hose that I want to use to have the rainwater run off from the shed directed into the pond. I used a short piece to connect our outside tap into the garden to allow wasy filling of watering cans.  Looking at it this morning it was blown up to almost twice its original diameter - - - obviously not "top quality" hose! - - -

The day was pretty sunny when we returned so as planned I popped up to our logging area to pick up some wood.

Napkin our friends pet sheep followed me down the hill to our log pile and as I unloaded the various bits of kit from Boris he would try to eat them.  Giving up on trying to shoo him away I put them back in the vehicle at which point he tried to nibble at various bits on Boris.  He eventually tired of this and went back to nibbling at the grass

Having successfully reduced some larger bits to firewood and loaded them into Boris i set about chain sawing some chunks that resisted my attempts to split them. Almost finished i spotted a couple of long stick so popped them onto the flat bit of tree trunk to saw them to the correct length - - - This is a risky manoeuvre at the best of times but on pieces as short as these it can be very dangerous.

In my case it was! the chain saw snagged on the stick see the slight cut on the stick this whipped it round under my foot and the chainsaw, still running hopped onto the top of my boot.

I had let go the throttle which applies the chain brake but the chain went right through the layers of the boot, the dark bit visible is my sock!  When i got back home i took off the boot and my sock had not been touched! very lucky - - -

Having settled down for a drink or 2 on our northern pergola I noticed a bumble bee on the front of one of our cameras. I had seen this before when trying to view the thing online and couldnt figure out why it appeared to be dark!

This particular camera has an Infra Red night vision light and i wondered if that might somehow be attracting the Bees?

Later on when viewing the camera at night I spotted sainsbury the tabby cat in hunting mode

He's watching for mice coming out of a wall to eat the bird food that's knocked off the bird table and feeders above!
Enjoy the day
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BMI rubbished once again & nice weather now

I've wittered on about my distrust of BMI (Body Mass Index) but here's a proof that how its administered is rubbish

This body builder was told to lose weight and exercise more.  Not that im a body builder but I was told the same when I was 2lbs overweight using its height to weight ratio!
Although the NHS quote at the bottom of the story acknowledges that some sports people"can be wrongly classed" the diagnoses in this case shows a lack of professionalism on the part of the nurse methinks - - -






At last! the government "says" it is going to make it easier to penalise Telemarketing companies

You know the type of thing, you sit down to dinner and "there go's the phone" Its silent when you pick it up but then on comes the "salesperson" not trying to sell you anything of course etc,etc.etc.
The stats are impressive in the story over 120k people complained to Information Commissioners Office between April and November last year! No doubt there are countless k's more who just couldnt be bothered to complain. Lets hope theoutcome is a success. - - -

The result of the RSPB annual January garden birdwatch are out and this link has some poarticularly nice pics on it of our top 11 species.

Interesting to note that the Blackbird numbers are down dropping the bird from 2nd to 5th but experts point to the mild winter meaning they can get food in the countryside rather than needing to feed in gardens - - -




Closer to home
The rather unsettled weather has petered out just now and we revelled in some "Spring Sunshine" yesterday

Here Sally sits on the new garden furniture which i must point out was "a bargain" .  Well if you look at the B&Q alternative it is. Theirs is £260 more than we paid.  Ok there's a coffee table with it but no "free" weatherproof covers so I reckon that evens things out - - - I might add the cups of Tea in the pic were soon replaced by alcohol! - - -

No doubt this afternoon we will adopt a similar garden "pose" if the weather forecast rings true.

Today we are off to the Tansley car boot sale.  We aren't regular car boot "attendees" but go once every year.  That satisfies our curiosity for another 12 months!
After that if the weather hold i will probably go and check our logging site and collect some more wood for our store.  It wont be long before I will be felling again - - -

I forgot to add this "snippet" when i was working my last set of shifts

Matlock "Sainsbugs" is situated in an old quarry and one of the car parks back directly onto the old quarry face.  The colleagues in the Petrol Filling Station noticed 2 blokes climbing up the netting covering the rock the other day.  By the time the duty manager got there they had realised they were being watched and descended quickly to speed off in a car! - - -






Enjoy the day
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Active mums have active kids & more beans!

I picked up on a couple of stories about how people, women in particular bring up their kids.

This mother keeps her 4 year old in a buggy because Its easier for me she says.  Do I hear howls of disgust?  If you read the article you might agree with the mother and she sets forth a plethora of reasons for keeping him in the buggy, even enlisting the internet "parenting forum" http://www.mumsnet.com/ - - - I think I would lean more with the people suggesting that "dear Sebastian" should get a little discipline! - - -




On the other side of the coin and in a bit of a "juxtaposition"

 Activity levels in mums and children are directly linked.  says the article although looking at the story above "dear Sebastian" seems to flout this comparison.
The article though has an interesting line or 2 it suggests that if a mother is sedentary or active it has a direct effect on the child, and has an algorithm to prove it - - -





Here's a bit of a "nail biting" video to watch

A new apartment structure is on fire and a guy appears on a ledge to be rescued.  As the fire takes hold of the room he comes out of he has to lower himself on to the next ledge below (as in the pic)
Take a look at the video, the commentary gets a little tedious though!! - - -


Closer to home
We now have 4 runner bean plants in view and no doubt more might appear today.  Our fickle weather once again caught us out in the garden as it started to rain yesterday and we scuttled off into the greenhouse to shelter from the short downpour.  Lots of things in the garden are making a move

although its not unusual for us to get a little snow even as late as April the pic at left was 2012 April 4th - - -







On my trip around the garden this morning i had assistance from Sainsbury slightly out of focus as i had the camera set to macro!

He's following in old Toms footsteps coming into the garden when I do but he races around like a lunatic rather than the usual poses Tom adopted

Here's a pic of him from September last year, he looks to be proclaiming "My bridge and none shall pass!"







Enjoy the day
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Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

An "unaware" Drug smuggler & a few garden bits and bobs

This is a strange story of the drug smuggler

suitably in tears and with child in her arms professing that she knew nothing of the 138lbs of heroin in her luggage.  It has to be said its a little unbelievable but it will be interesting to follow the trail of the poor girls demise - - -




This video has to viewed

dodgy pic i know but this train comes thundering into O'hare airport station because the driver WAS ASLEEP!!!!!
The unbelievable bit of the story is that the driver also admitted falling asleep a month earlier.
This happened in Chicago - - - but its heartening to hear that the Chicago Transit Authority has said "it would reduce the speed of trains entering the station"  Er wait a minute if the driver's asleep surely they wont know what speed they are going? !!!    

This one is amusing  The UK future climate is to be all sorts!

Come on Met people we know this! its been going on for years and years, the UK weather has always been so unpredictable!
The UK Met Office have issued this story and it is peppered with the usual predictions quickly followed by the usual fudging!
e.g. "Summers are likely to be hotter and drier - - - but wash outs are still on the cards" If they would just say they aren't sure what's going to happen it wouldn't be so bad but we continually get what appears to be iron clad predictions followed by "ear splitting silences" when the real weather is the opposite of their forecasts!  - - -

Closer to home
Our unsettled weather! lol continues

We had been sitting out in the sunshine yesterday when clouds loomed and the rain started.  Making a dash for the small greenhouse at the top of the garden we sheltered thinking it would pass quickly.  15 minutes later it was another dash in the rain back to the house.

The recent demise of one of our fish means we will be once again today adding a treatment to the pond this afternoon.  Here's hoping no others show signs of illness - - -

The garden shows even more signs that spring is with us and in the greenhouse this morning

our grape vine is showing signs of life, if you click to enlarge the pic you can see than the spiders have started using the bud for a silk anchor point!

This is just one runner bean shoot in a tray Sally has prepared she will be delighted they have started to sprout

While the quince bush has had flowers for a while they look particularly vibrant this morning covered in their early morning dew.

One thing about our "unsettled" weather of late, it has allowed me to return to the labours of my book!

Enjoy the day
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Met Police boss "Hasn't a clue" & First fish casualty of 2014

 The news that the Met Police boss

Sir Bernard Hogan has "no idea" what was in a load of shredded "corruption files" comes as no surprise as the sorry tale of the Met Police handling of all kinds of crimes descends into farce!
The hoary old chestnuts of the Stephen Lawrence and Danial Morgan deaths are once again paraded as examples of the sorry state of the Met as a force.  No doubt a couple of minor heads might roll but they will be forgotten and re-employed at some stage no doubt! - - -

A body boarder tipped his board over the edge of a dam wall at Porth Reservoir

and uploaded the result to youtube.  The description of "Dare devil performs mad stunt down giant dam" is stretching it a bit as the dam must only be 25 feet or so high.  No doubt it will serve as a challenge to another "fool" but maybe with a different outcome - - -

On the other hand - - - this video is worth watching

The River Zin in the Negev desert was the subject of a flash flood a few day's ago after heavy rain in nearby mountains.

I have seen this in the Omani desert around Salalah and it is really amazing to see first hand
Definitely worth a look at the video - - -




Closer to home
We spotted a fish looking "less than healthy" the other day so I netted it out and took a look.

The pic shows circled a case of cotton wool fungus, it was whiter than this when we first spotted it.  Yesterday I took the poor thing out of the pond and noticed it had developed fin rot as well.  The humane way of killing them is to put them in the freezer in some water and as the water cools they just slow right down and die.
We had been optimistic before finding this fish as the pond water is very clear after we introduced our second pump and filter a week or so ago.
Its not uncommon to lose fish in spring as for some reason they become "stressed" and that when the newly forming bacteria and other various diseases attack them. Fingers crossed we don't lose any-more - - -

My set of shifts at the "Fun Factory", the local sainsbugs has been quite interesting.  A new baker started but couldnt work in the bakery because he had not done his food handling course! - - - rather an odd thing not to have organised earlier as he was an internal recruit!

There have been more rumblings about this "labour matching" where people are having their hours changed with a fair number refusing to sign up for the new deal.

Sally has started her quest to get a part time job and visited the job centre to be surprised at the way everything works nowadays.  No long lines of boards with postcards on with job seekers shuffling between them.  Its all "online" now - - - lets see what comes from it.

Looking forward to my week of days off although the weather forecast doesnt look too exiting

I blogged about doing the Snowdon Horseshoe on the 6/7/8 June and that is now confirmed

but we might be a little thin on the ground if my mate cant make it and Ginny doesn't recruit any of the old team. The pic above is our group completing the knife edge on the 3rd day of the 15 Peaks in 2012.  I think we might give the edge a miss this time so I will be suggesting we approach the Snowdon Summit along the ridge in the left of the pic - - -

Enjoy the day
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Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Dont look down! & Challenging customers at the fun factory today!

If you don't like heights don't click on this link

The story covers taking down the cranes that helped build the Shanghai Tower at 2070 feet its the second tallest building in the world - - -





The pic shows a drug bust

but reading the article accompanying it is a tragic tale of heroin addiction.  Addicts buy heroin at $10 a bag and the video shows "the transaction"
Saddest part of the tale apart from the death from an overdose of a fresh faced 17 year old "Stephanie" has to be Greg & Stacey.  Living rough they have 3 kids which they cant look after - - - so sad

Dopey MP of the week award has to go to Patrick Nulty

odd shaped head!  He took to facebook to destroy his political career by amongst other things asking a 17 year old if she had "ever been spanked" !!  - - -




This tale (no pun intended!) took some believing

This dog apparently has OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Quite an interesting article but you have to sit back and think how much is being made up by the "experts" and will be disproved later









Closer to home
Sunday was a reasonably warm sunny afternoon and Sainsbury was enjoying chasing the odd fly on the new decking

This morning however a sharp frost and -2.9c temperature made us realise that winter is still with us

The daffodils looked a little sad but recovered once the sun warmed up the day

Down at the fun factory it was "A challenging " morning as we seemed to have pulled in all the ignorant shoppers from miles around

A particular arrogant and rude "Gentleman" accosted me and launched into a diatribe about an item he had "Bought from here before".  A suggestion that we might look at the shelves again was rewarded with an "I can assure you its not there".  I said I would check the item in the computer and let him know the result.  The search not only confirmed we didn't have it but that it was not an item Sainsbury's sold! .  When I told him "we don't sell this item" he again argued  he had had it before.  I replied that "I wasn't saying that, what I was saying was, we don't sell that item" He just "harumphed and walked off.
Later a "Lady" accosted the instore cleaner and demanded he "Go and get me 4 tins of Coronation Milk"  Obviously meaning Carnation Milk I was enlisted to explain we did not sell "Carnation milk" but had the Sainsbury version of it.
Ignoring my explanation she then went off and accosted one of the girls on the self scan check out and demanded she "Go and get me 4 cans of Coronation Milk" I was asked by the girl what she could be wanting and I suggested giving her the Sainsbury's alternative.  This placated her but she still made rude comments at the checkout girls about the service and why didn't we stock "Coronation Milk"  - - - hey ho!

Enjoy the day
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Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Dont pay your TV licence! & Snowden horseshoe 6-8 June!

I blogged  not long ago about the de-criminalising of not paying your TV licence.

The Times   today has this story about MP's debating about cutting of the signal to users who don't pay their licence fee!
Incredible! the story about not prosecuting people who fail to pay was published and now parliament is debating what to do about it!!!!!!! - - - you would think there are more "pressing matters" that should be demanding MP's attention!!! - - - or maybe not!


BMI or Body Mass Index takes a battering here.

and so it should!!!! This method of telling you if you are "healthy" struck home for me when I was "in BMI standard" 2lbs overweight.  I lost the 2lbs and was declared healthy!!! I have never had any faith in the BMI rating and this Sky Story seems to prop it up!!!! - - -



A "Must see video" of what happens when a "controlled burn" gets an unexpected visitor in the form of a "dust devil" no pics but worth a view .

Closer to home
A pretty ordinary shift at the fun factory with the usual challenges! but nothing spectacular!

Back home we managed a bottle of wine as the sun was setting before the clouds turned up to spoil the party.

I've had a couple of e mails from "Ginny" the 3 Peaks and 15 Peaks driver and it looks as if we will be "doing" the Snowden Horseshoe over the weekend 6th-8th June.  Ok not the north face of the Eiger but still a "good walk" any takers??? - - e mail me!
Enjoy the day
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Brave soldier story & Cl30 Flyby!!

The media circus continues at the Pistorious trial

With the headline of "Gasps in court" the Sky Report reports how  the pictures of Reeva's body are shown.
Surely!!!!! this is not for international consumption! - - -
Why let emotions get in the way of a grisly story though! - - -



On the other hand I like the exposure of this story

This guy is shot in the neck by a sniper in Afghanistan  and thinking he only has a couple of minutes to live because his artery may have been cut he continues to support his comrades with his machine gun.
It turns out the bullet misses the artery and voice box and he eventually has to be "ordered" to be casevace'd  - -  -respect!!!!

Hey! spring is around the corner but dont be fooled it could snow tomorrow!
But this story from BBC Nature  says it all

A series of pics showing our UK spring emerging is not displayed more than this long tailed tit gathering bits for its nest!!!!

Lovely pics






Closer to home
The "Sport relief" weekend is almost upon us and in "the shop" the trend "to attend" is rather overpowering so as is my "want" I have decided to ignore it!!!!!

Our new garden furniture had another test drive after my shift today and the view from the Northern pergola is pretty spectacular

Here's the view looking South with a wonderful looking sky

I heard the "familiar" drone of the C130 and jumped up to snap this one cruising down the valley as we sipped a cool glass of white wine - - - how cool is that!!!!!
Enjoy the day
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Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

The great cash machine tunnel! & Algorithms dont always work

Thieves dug a 50ft tunnel to raid a Cash Machine at a Tesco Express and filling station

The amount of cash they got away with is not disclosed and it looks as if they might also have been responsible for another similar raid in 2012 a few miles away! - - -




The daily express

has a sensible headline for a change promoting the budget joy for pensions and saving announced by the Chancellor yesterday. - - -









Closer to home
With the weather still being kind yesterday I did my "Round Robin" walk and noticed

The wild garlic Ransoms are getting bigger

The view from half way around the walk looks pretty good, this is looking South from just above Rowsley

We took delivery of some garden furniture yesterday for our Northern Pergola!

Sally gave it a test drive and of course today the weather is quite windy and rainy so the waterproof covers also got a thorough testing!

Back at the fun factory today on my first shift of the Sainsbury's New Year to learn that we will get our full 2.5% bonus from last year after passing the various tests in that period.

A colleague, "lets call him Glen",  was expounding his theory about one of our test, "MAC" which means Making Availability Count.  At any time the "MAC Lady" can appear and check certain lines we should have on the shelf.  We are then scored as to the result, the accumulated score counts towards the bonus we receive at year end.
  Glen had taken all the data from the "Last Sainsbury Year" and popped it into his new version of Microsoft XL and produced an algorithm to predict when the "MAC Lady" would next appear.
Don't worry he said "she's not due until Monday"  he told me earlier in between me telling him he really should "get out more!"
He looked a tad crest fallen when she walked in today (Thursday) at 1330! - - - Mmmmm algorithms don't always work!

The recent round of "labour matching",  changing of peoples hours, is causing some headaches with a number of people refusing to accept the proposed changes and threatening to leave - - - hey ho
Enjoy the day
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